Ten... colour laser printers

Rainbow warriors

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Xerox Phaser 6010

The LED print engine in Dell’s 1250c is made by Xerox and this is its maker’s own take on an entry-level model. It looks petite in its rounded white and deep blue case and boasts a similar pull-down paper tray with slide-out cover. The printer includes a network port, as well as USB and prints at 10.3ppm in black and 7.7ppm in colour, so faster than its Dell cousin. It produces good prints very quietly, though photos have a slight blue cast. Trouble is, it costs more to run than any other colour laser we’ve tested (3.0p black and 20.7p colour) and at Internet rates is nearly twice the price of the Dell. May be OK if you only print occasionally.

Xerox Phaser 6280

A big printer for a little price, if you're inclined to go on-line shopping that is. This Xerox model is a tall, but comparatively small footprint colour laser. Controls are easy to work through and functions like secure print and network connection are included. There’s only a 250-sheet paper tray, but the multi-purpose tray adds an extra 150-sheets. Speeds of 23.5ppm for black, 13.6ppm for colour and 16.9spm duplex have it punching well above its weight. Print quality is particularly good, with solid blacks and vibrant colours. Even photos, traditionally hard to do on a laser, are smooth and with good shadow detail. Running costs, at 1.7p for black and 8.6p for colour, are also low. ®